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The River Arts District, in fact, and not all over my house anymore! An alpaca led us there, but that’s another story. We are at 375 Depot Street inside Studio 375. We call it Planet Art because there’s a lot going on inside. Also, because art is the center of the eARTh, we want to give back by donating a percentage of our profits to quality causes, like Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, Manna Food Bank, Helpmate, Blue Voice, and etc. We will be featuring artists with sustainable practices or using recycled materials, and offer sustainable picture framing options for your art. Last but not least, it is the new home of Chair Repair…Restore, ReUse, Recycle!

Planet Art is essentially me, Dave, and Jack Dog doing lots of chair caning (thank you website!) and working on a little picture framing section in the back. This vision has been occupying the better part of my brain, heart, and soul for about 8 years now, and it’s really really cool to see it come together. And it’s especially cool to take Jack Dog to work everyday.

At Planet Art, we provide professional, archival, sustainable, and affordable framing options for families, artists, businesses, and anyone who has art stashed in a closet intending to get it framed one day. I framed pictures in Oregon for about 5 years and have been doing it at home for about 5 years since. It satisfies both my intellectual (lots of fractions and exact measurements) and my artistic sides. Being a Libra, balance is muy importante! I digress.

The back of the studio before the open house

I remember the first time I ever framed something…I had my coupon for 20% off and bam! they laid the estimate in front of me. My eyes grew to the size of saucers, and after I picked jaw off the floor, I asked…”Is that before or after the coupon?” After, of course. Later I got into photography and started traveling collecting art as souveniers, I decided I better learn to do this for myself. Since then, I’ve framed all kinds of cool stuff, from Tiger Woods’ golf memorabilia and Portland Trailblazers jerseys to antique Asian silks, paintings to shadow boxes. I’ve come to realize that less is best. Especially these days, eh? And you CAN frame your stuff simply and tastefully without juggling your budget or signing away your 1st born child. Even better, these days there are sustainable options that are kinder to trees. Speaking of sustainable….

The Resident Artist Section includes Wanderlust Images by moi and Hobie's Porch Chair Caning and Chair Repair by me and Dave

You know that poster your dad got for you and spent hundreds of dollars framing and you don’t really like it but you’re very over it, and can’t take it to the thrift store without massive guilt? Bring it to our ART EXCHANGE! We’ll try to sell it for you and you can get cash or credit to frame your new art you actually do like. It’s kinda like clothing consignment, but for your art. Buying locally, instead of from Target or Michael’s helps keep money in the community. Maybe you even take the art out of the frame and reuse the frame to save some money?! We’ve currently got Klimt’s The Kiss, an Easy Rider poster, antique European paintings, and yes, the watercolor my dad got me that I’ve been schlepping across the country for years.

Yep, lots of stuff going on. But the most unusual (as if the alpaca weren’t enough…but I’m totally going to keep you in suspense on that one) thing, by far, was what we found in an old Victorian chair from the late 1800’s…..a little mummified lizard! It’s actually kind of cool.